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May 7, 2000
District tries to keep spending downFigures show District 88 keeps spending on the low side,compared to state averageBy GUY PRIEL Journal Staff Writer NEW ULM -- With the scheduled excess levy referendum two weeks away, officials with District 88 want residents to have all the answers before they cast their votes. The polls will be open at Vogel Arena between 4 and 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 23, but officials are urging residents not to wait until then, since they are able to mail their ballots anytime between the time they are received and May 22. Ballots should have started arriving at the homes of all registered voters in the school district on Thursday. If the ballot has not arrived by May 9, residents are urged to contact the district office at 359-8401. The referendum will help the school district avoid making an additional $1 million worth of cuts for the 2001-2002 school year, because it will make use of additional tax dollars to provide more funding to the district. "The referendum will be for a period of five years, beginning with taxes payable in 2001," Superintendent Harold Remme said. "Passage of the referendum is an authorization to use money, it does not require us to use that money." New Ulm has less dollars available than other districts of similar size, and spends approximately $581 less than the state average per pupil unit for services, he said. A referendum is important, because the district cannot continue to make cuts each year in an attempt to maintain a fund balance, he said. "The referendum dollars are a combination of local effort and state aid," Remme said. "Part of the amount used to educate our students are paid by people outside our district, just like we pay a portion of other district funds through state aid." District 88 spends less money per student than other districts in the region, with the exception of Blue Earth. The district also manages to spend less than the state average in all categories per pupil unit, with the exception of pupil transportation, which is about $88 higher than the state average, he said. For the 1998-1999 school year, District 88 spent $6,114 per pupil unit for operating expenses. Of that amount, the district received $235 per pupil unit from existing referendums. The referendum approved in 1992, which provides $146 per pupil unit, will expire in 2002. The goal is to continue to provide $450 per pupil unit for the next five years to avoid further cuts, Remme said. With all funding sources combined, District 88 receives approximately $5,142 per pupil unit, but actually spends approximately $6,114 per pupil unit, which is one reason why the fund balance is decreasing, he said. Projected revenues for the 2000-2001 school year are $16,986,263, but projected expenses are $17,879,240. The fund balance, designed to act as a financial cushion for the district, is being used to make up the difference, which is why the referendum will provide additional help, Remme said. When it comes to expenses per pupil unit, the district spends $3,092, or 51 percent, for regular instruction. The remaining portion, based on the 1998-1999 academic year, is divided per pupil unit as follows: * $340 for district and school administration. * $97 for district support services. * $112 for vocational instruction. * $796 for exceptional instruction. * $369 for instructional support services. * $166 for pupil support services. * $448 for operations and maintenance. * $236 for food service. * $458 for pupil transportation.
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